God, the exterior decorator.

[Noelegy]

gently clawed at?? i've heard it burns like a mother

Heh. I'm not a big fan of the show "Friends," but I did see the episode where Rachel and Phoebe were supposed to go get tattoos and Phoebe chickened out because they were done with needles, which was apparently news to her. Rachel's response was something to the effect of "Oh really? Because mine was licked on by kittens!"

That always tickled me.

I think I've already posted about this elsewhere, but my three tattoos had differing degrees of discomfort and/or pain. The best way I can describe it is that it's like someone drawing on your skin with a ballpoint pen and a LOT of pressure. And yes, it stings. But if you're being worked on long enough, your endorphins kick in and smooth things out for you.

[Tria]

Leviticus 19:28:

" 'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD."

I don't remember prominent people in the Bible that had piercings or tattoos.... .

Golden calf.... Earing to melt and make the thing....

[wagegoth]

I'm sorry if I offended anyone. That was certainly not the point of my post. I was attempting to point out the number of people who pick and choose from the Bible what they are willing to believe and choose to do or not do, while rejecting what they find inconvenient or undesirable.

I certainly don't think Lewis Black is any type of spiritual guide. I just found his remarks very funny, and so did my Jewish husband.

Just A Dude and I seem to hold very similar beliefs. I show respect for anyone who is honestly religious or not religious, and I respect their choice of beliefs. I don't respect people who claim to be a faithful follower of whatever religion/deity, then make very clear by their behavior that they are not.

I studied the Bible for many years, and have a good depth of knowledge, although I am no longer able to to precisely cite a scripture I might quote. I've been exposed through friends and coworkers to many different religions, and often ask for information when it is a new or unfamiliar belief.

And I really don't want this discussion to devolve into a closed thread or fratching.

[wagegoth]

Golden calf.... Earing to melt and make the thing....

That was my justification to my parents for getting my ears pierced.

[thegiraffe]

What about all of the sacrifice laws? Those no longer apply either. I like how people are able pick and choose which laws they want to yell at you about.

I believe (I'll have to do some research) that God wasn't satisfied with the animal sacrifices. That's mainly Old Testament stuff, which the Jewish also believe in (the difference comes with the Christian New Testament). God wasn't pleased with the animal sacrifices (among other things), so he sent Jesus to Earth to ultimately pay the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. As I understand it, the people sacrificed because they didn't know how else to worship such an incredible, amazing, and indescribable God (sorry...I just got back from an absolutely incredible night at church).

[Noelegy]

Fine time to tell me that!

On the subject of tattoos, I got a new one last night to celebrate my new job and new start and change of direction in general. It's a modest little triple spiral, about an inch and a half across, on my upper arm. It shows if I have on a sleeveless shirt, but it's covered if I have short sleeves.

My husband's not happy I got it. He gave me The Look (tm) when he saw I had a bandage on my shoulder and I told him what that bandage was covering. This morning, after I took a shower and cleaned the post-tattoo debris away, I showed it to him, and he admitted he wasn't happy that I'd "put another mark" on myself.

I said I had two tattoos when I met him, and he'd gone with me to get the third, and I thought he liked my tattoos; now he's saying he doesn't? He said that he preferred me "clean," meaning no artificial marks. I said that even if I didn't have ink under my skin, I have freckles and scars, I have both ears pierced three times, I cut and color my hair, I wear makeup...these are all part of who I am and who he accepted when he married me. And this probably isn't the last tattoo I'll get, either.

He's been in a somewhat pissy mood the last couple of days, and I'm not sure why, but this may just be part of that overall mood. Still, he really stuck a nice big pin in my happy balloon when I told him that the tattoo was to celebrate my new job and my liberation from my old unhappy workplace, and he said, "It's just a job. One that makes what you're making now."

Well thank you, Mr. Bringdown.

[Acolyte]

Whenever fundies start telling me off for whatever reason (Usually something related to whatever tabletop/PC game I'm playing at the moment-they don't seem to be big WoW, 40K or D&D fans...), I just ask them when they last stoned a disobedient child to death or killed somebody for working on the sabbath. If they can pick and choose, then so can I.
Just for the record, I don't consider myself a Christian, rather a Diest-basically, I think that there *is* a higher power of some sort, but not in a particular religion and just go by my conscience and common sense.

Anyways. I've always wanted to get a forearm tattoo, but I don't know what I'd get it of. Thankfully, I've got several friends/roommates who are into the whole body modification scene, so it's not like I'll be going in blind.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I had this response for one of those at Claires when I was looking at earrings. (Clip-ons, by the way, for that extra duh factor.) Imagine a big furry freak with long hair and beard in a girly store like that anyway...it was pretty obvious he was trolling around for someone to preach to. He did his spiel (hellfire, damnation, whatever). Then I did mine. I was wearing my Eddie shirt at the time...

"Do you know who Eddie Guerrero is?" (The answer is no, of course.) "He was a professional wrestler with tattooes and a serious problem with alcohol. He was also a rehabilitated born-again Christian, he read the bible every day, he read the bible to his fellow wrestlers whenever they needed some reassurance, he loved his daughters, his wife, and his fans, he honored his mother and father, and he was ten times holier and better and more GOOD than you will EVER be, and the fact that he had a few ink blots in his flesh doesn't change that. Quite frankly, if God is so cruel as to be unable to forgive a person for something as meaningless as tattoos, I don't WANT to go to his heaven."

Wouldn't you know it, he walked away. Really fast, too.

[Lil Bunny]

*grabs a dead horse* Ok I know this post is a moot point but I had to pipe in.

I study theology as a hobby. *shrugs* I'm odd like that. Not a big deal really. You really want to burn a fundie? Point out the fact that the fish on their car is technically being blasphemous.

Back in the days after Christ was crucified and the apostles/diciples were sent out to spread the word, the fish symbol was used to mark yourself as a Christian with out being overly obvious about it. Ya know, with that whole martyr thing going on and all. It was a way to know who your bretheren were, if you will.

So yeah, I have no problem with wearing my tattoos proudly.

[Starlord]

My wife worked at a department store in Washington, and wore a very nice Seal of Solomon. One day this old bat came through her checkout line and threw a fit, saying she was going to report my wife to the management. When asked what for, the OB said because my wife was not a Christian. My wife looked her straight in the eye and told her that she didn't see that listed in the job description, and that in fact, the personnel manager happened to be quite taken by the amulet.

[Starlord]

To the people who tell me that my body is a temple. I reply, no, your body may be a temple, mine is an amusement park.